Dental Office Voicemail Greetings to Use in Your Practice

If you’re trying to grow your patient base at your dental practice, even the smallest gestures can make a significant difference. One gesture you should prioritize is your voicemail greeting. 

If your practice is like many, you probably haven’t put a lot of thought into the automatic voicemail recording patients hear when you can’t get to the phone. Perhaps your current greeting is a generic message with your office hours.

But using the right language and messaging in your voicemail greetings can have a positive impact on patients and reduce the frustration they may feel when you miss their call. In contrast, using the wrong tone or messaging can persuade first-time callers to choose a different practice instead. 

In this guide, learn the dental office voicemail greeting best practices you can implement in your practice and a few scripts you can use when recording your new messages. Then use Weave Phones to implement custom voicemail greetings, call pop caller info, interactive voice recordings (IVR), missed-call texts, and more to elevate your phone system. 

Benefits of Using Voicemail Greetings for Your Dental Office

Recording custom voicemail greetings for different caller scenarios can provide several benefits for your dental small business. These benefits can be the icing on the cake that set your dental services apart from other practices in your area. 

Here are a few significant benefits of using voicemail greetings:

• Personalize your practice: Recording a personable, friendly voicemail message is an effective way to connect with patients whom you cannot talk to directly. Your callers can get a glimpse into the friendly service they will receive when they speak with a representative live or call back during your business hours.

• Enhance customer service: Having a good voicemail greeting can improve your office’s customer service and create a more positive brand image. While patients may feel frustrated that you couldn’t answer their calls, using the perfect voicemail greeting can mitigate their frustration.

• Provide resources: Your greeting can include resources callers can turn to if they can’t reach you by phone. For example, you can direct them to your online scheduling service or the contact information for an emergency dentist that is currently open.

• Reduce in-office labor: While using voicemail greetings doesn’t replace the need for in-house staff to answer phone calls, it provides a sort of “virtual receptionist” for when staff can’t get to the phone. You may need fewer staff members in the office when you implement custom voicemail greetings.

• Offer 24/7 availability: Your dental office staff won’t always be available to answer calls, but your voicemail box will be. Having a friendly, informative voicemail message enables your practice to solve patient concerns even when you’re away from the phone or out of the office.

Voicemail Scripts and Examples

While having a voicemail message is important, having the right greeting is even more important. Instead of using a general message for every caller, we recommend creating a custom greeting for different scenarios. Doing so can personalize your messaging and ensure that you relay the right information to each caller. 

Here are a few voicemail scripts you can use as templates within your own dental office. 

No Answer

Sometimes, your office staff simply can’t get to the phone in time. Whether they’re away from their desks or helping a patient in person, you can implement a “no answer” voicemail greeting to help patients on an incoming call asynchronously. 

Here’s a “no answer” voicemail greeting script you can implement: 

Thank you for calling {Practice Name}. We’re sorry to have missed your call! Please leave a message with your name and phone number, and we will get back to you shortly. You can also email us at {Email} or text us at this number at any time for assistance. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Busy Line

If your dental staff is busy speaking with another caller, you don’t want to completely turn away the new call. Instead, your phone system can keep them on hold until the next staff member is available. 

Callers may be frustrated to encounter your busy line, so you should use a voicemail message that is calm, understanding, and reassuring. Here is a voicemail greeting example you can use for your hold messages:

Thank you for calling {Practice Name}! We’re currently on the line with another patient, but we’ll be available to speak with you soon. Please hold for the next available staff member to assist you. You can also hang up and send us a text message at {Number} or an email at {Email}, and we will get back to you within the hour. Your call is important to us, and we appreciate your patience.

Closed Office

When a current or potential patient calls your dental business outside regular business hours, your voicemail message can provide resources that they can utilize instead of speaking with your staff directly. Including information like your business hours and what to do in a dental emergency can provide stand-in assistance for your caller while you’re out of the office. 

You can use this voicemail greeting sample as a starting point:

Thank you for calling {Practice Name}. We’re sorry to have missed you — our office is currently closed. Our office hours are {X Hours}. If you are experiencing a dental emergency and need immediate assistance, please dial {Number} or visit the emergency dental clinic at {Address}. If you have a question or would like to schedule an appointment, please leave a message with your name and telephone number, and we will get back to you during our regular business hours. 

Extended Hold

Customer surveys found that 66% of people are only willing to wait on hold for up to two minutes. The longer you keep your current or new patients waiting, the more frustrated they may become with your office.

Instead of keeping patients waiting, allow them to get back to their regular routines by implementing an extended hold message. This message can trigger after a caller has been on hold for 15 or 30 minutes.

Thank you for holding. We don’t want to keep you waiting any longer. Please leave a message after the tone, and we will call you back as soon as one of our staff members becomes free. Again, thank you for being patient, and we will talk to you soon! 

Voicemail Tips and Best Practices

Here are a few tips and best practices to keep in mind as you create your professional business voicemail greetings: 

• Speak slowly and clearly: Your voicemail message should be easy to understand on first listen. Also, speaking slowly can help instill a sense of calmness in an already frustrated caller.

• Record a custom voicemail greeting for holidays and unusual events: If your office is going to be closed for an extended period for the holidays, record a holiday voicemail greeting with your hours and reopen date.

• Watch the length: Your voicemail script should be long enough to relay all of the pertinent information, but not too long that your callers become impatient. Aim for a brief message lasting 30 seconds or less.

• Provide clear directions: Ensure that the caller knows what to do when they reach your voicemail message — leave their name and phone number, wait for a callback, send an email or text, etc.

Other Things to Add to Your Voicemail

As you perfect your professional voicemail greeting, here are a few elements you can add to your missed call procedures: 

Missed Call Texts

When you miss a patient’s call, you should do everything you can to ensure that they don’t feel ignored. One way to provide an immediate response while you’re busy with another caller is through a missed call text message. 

Dental technology like Weave Texting enables you to send automatic texts after every missed call. These texts can use custom scripts that reflect your practice, making it sound like they came from one of your staff members. A script may look something like this: 

Hi, Jim Smith! Sorry we missed your call! What can we help you with? 

Your staff will be able to communicate back and forth with the caller over text, which may negate their need for a callback. You can also use this system to send automatic appointment reminder texts, birthday messages, overdue balance requests, and more. 

IVR for Multi-Location or Multi-Desk Offices

If your dental practice has multiple locations or offices, you can utilize an interactive voice response (IVR) system like Weave Phones to simplify voice messaging. These systems enable you to direct calls to the right branch, send calls to available staff members, and allow callers to answer their questions without speaking to a staff member directly. 

Final Thoughts

Creating a professional voicemail greeting for each caller scenario can benefit your dental office in many ways. As your dental business strives to attract new patients and retain existing ones, putting thought and effort into your business voicemail greeting can pay dividends. 

Use our voicemail scripts above as a guide to enhance your missed call messaging.